The federal government's key summer nutrition programs for low-income children are the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the SFSP is an entitlement program funding public and private non-profit organizations to serve nutritious meals…

This technical assistance paper is designed to provide local adult vocational education administrators and teachers in Florida with information to implement the Vocational Preparatory Instruction (VPI) programs more effectively and in compliance with the VPI curriculum frameworks. Developed by practitioners in the state of Florida, the curriculum…

A study analyzed the forces affecting improvement and implementation of international agricultural perspectives in secondary programs of agricultural science in Texas. A mail survey, based on force-field analysis, was used to determine the effect of 14 variables, including 3 that involved perceptions of the relevance, knowledge, and implementation…

A review of the growing population of students receiving special education services in Florida and the extent to which these students are included in statewide assessments concluded that participation has improved slightly but had not met its goals. The report begins by providing statistical information on the special education population and then…

This guide is designed to give the student helpful information about Arizona's Instrument To Measure the Standards (AIMS) for high school. The guide provides examples of the type of questions students see on AIMS and explains how items are scored. It does not teach what the student needs to know to do well on AIMS, but it will help the student…

This paper addresses problems with performance on open-ended (i.e., not multiple choice) test questions administered on paper for students accustomed to writing with computers. The first section summarizes the results of three studies that examined differences between computer and paper-and-pencil test results. The second section identifies three…

Noting that wages for child care workers are among the lowest in the U.S. labor force and that generally caregivers are offered few employee benefits, this paper summarizes proposals and programs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia to raise child care worker compensation. The paper classifies state-level initiatives into two categories:…

The use of portfolios in assessing student achievement is contrasted with the use of standardized tests. Portfolios are considered more subjective than scores from standardized tests, and they present different issues in assessing and reporting student progress. Interscorer reliability may be a problem because of a lack of agreement about the…

This review examined the evaluation components from 10 awarded state improvement grants designed to improve systems providing services for students with disabilities. The review examined the following aspects of the evaluation components: purposes, conceptual framework for the evaluation and systems reform, evaluation design and approaches,…

This brief paper summarizes proceedings of a May 2000 conference, Discovering Hidden Resources: Partners and Volunteers--Assistive Technology Reuse Programs, hosted by the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America. The conference focused on different approaches for involving corporate and private partners in…

This paper: reviews research on beginning teacher induction programs, summarizing previous reviews of the topic; identifies various state- and local-level induction programs, analyzing best practices that exist today; makes recommendations based on the research and on best practice for state and local policy development and for program development…

The Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) was a major new initiative in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), North Carolina, in 2000. The ALP was designed to help WCPSS meet its achievement goal of 95% of students scoring at or above grade level at grades 3 and 8 by 2003, with grade levels determined by the North Carolina End of Grade tests.…

This monograph reviews issues in research on the effects of using accommodations for students with disabilities who are included in educational assessments, particularly state and district assessments. Following an introductory overview, a section provides background on the need for good research on accommodations. The paper then defines commonly…

Texas students have made extraordinarily large gains on statewide achievement tests, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), gains so dramatic that they have been dubbed the "Texas miracle." There is general agreement that these gains are attributable to the high stakes accountability system in Texas, but there is some question…

Because districts in Nebraska are not measured on common instruments, comparisons are difficult. This study examined a district evaluation strategy that classifies districts into school performance ratings (SPR) based on a combination of three factors. Student performance and non-cognitive indicator data for three grade levels and two content…